Wii Play (Hands-On) (Wii) Preview

By Adam Riley 22.09.2006

Nintendo has been pushing its Wii Sports set of titles on a constant basis since it was first unveiled. The simple set that includes tennis, bowling, golf, boxing and baseball all give gamers a chance to hone their Wii control skills before being let loose on the full-blown titles, such as Metroid Prime 3: Corruption or even Super Mario Galaxy. However, Nintendo is wise and wants more people to learn, including those that may not enjoy sports too much. So here is Wii Play, a batch of small games that can be fun whenever you play, whilst teaching you the intricacies of Wii control perfectly.

Hajimete no Wii, which literally translates from Japanese to English as 'My First Wii', is a compendium of various small games that are designed to both educate owners of the Wii in the art of using the controller. However, this is not the only use, or else people certainly would not be parting with their money (even if it DOES come with a free Wii freehand controller). Nintendo thinks the key to Wii is engaging others in the experience, therefore, the various games included in the package are all orientated around fun entertainment and games that can be played with friends. Looking around and finding no friends, though, C3's James Temperton had to suffice as a game partner (hehe!).

Screenshot for Wii Play (Hands-On) on Wii

The first game sampled was Laser Hockey and out of the entire batch I thought it was probably the best of the bunch. Working somewhat like a more sophisticated version of the classic Pong, one player controls a neon bar on the left, whilst the other does the same on the right. Then the fun begins! This uses the Wii remote alone and as you move your hand around in front of you, the bar moves around the screen in equal real-time. There is wall right down the centre that stops you straying over to the opponent's side unfairly, but you can hover around that 'net' area to try and catch them out with quick returns. To kick off you simply move you bar and touch the puck waiting in the centre. How fast you move you hand relates directly to the speed the puck is hit. Also, twisting your hand left or right tilts your little bar, so you can shoot the puck off in different angles and try to get past your opponent and into their goal. Such a simple idea, yet with the hands-on approach it all becomes highly addictive!

Screenshot for Wii Play (Hands-On) on Wii

After slaughtering all and sundry at that particularly delightful time-wasting game, I moved on to Wii Billiards, a remarkably solid pool simulator that will try even the most adept of videogame pool / snooker players. This is a great example of where the Nintendo Wii controller acts in a similar fashion to a PC mouse, with it becoming the actual cue. You have to line up your shot in a two-dimensional field and change your angle whilst looking behind the ball, before finally pulling the controller back from the screen and thrusting forward like launching your cue at the white ball to try and sink the relevant balls. Great fun indeed! There was also 'Find Mii', where you have to locate specific Mii characters, pairs or even three-of-a-kinds amongst a large crowd of Mii people. It becomes so tricky when pressed with the timer counter down rapidly, but is another case of 'it is a bit of laugh'.

Following this, I decided to sit back and watch James tackle Table Tennis. Now this game really does show how suited the Wii controls are for Rockstar's own take on the sport

Screenshot for Wii Play (Hands-On) on Wii

This leaves the last couple of modes of Wii Play, such as Pose Mii, the Shooting Gallery and there is the also the promise of extra modes that were hidden away. The former requires you to fit Mii characters into silhouettes floating down from the top of the screen. Be quick, though, as lots of bubbles start to fall as time goes by and matching them all up using the Wii remote, tilting and switching positions with the A button rapidly is harder than you would imagine. The latter is more traditional, and is basically an updated Duck Hunt, although perhaps that name needed to be dropped because of the nature of today's politically correct world. It is just as simple as ever, with you moving the cursor around the screen and shooting down the relevant targets. Very basic in style, but devastatingly addictive when you get underway.

Screenshot for Wii Play (Hands-On) on Wii

Final Thoughts

Considering the price this will likely come in at, you would expect there to be a sufficient amount included to justify the price. Thankfully, though, Nintendo has crammed enough fun antics into the deal, along with the promise of an extra Wii controller for multi-player fun straight out of the box. Want to have a great laugh with your mates? Wii Play could well be for you...

Developer

Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Genre

Party

Players

4

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  6/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10 (24 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

Comments

Ah, good stuff :Smilie May just be worth picking up, especially as it has a Wiimote bundled in :Smilie

Cubed3 Admin/Founder & Designer

To be honest, the Wii remote costs what,

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

I'm definitely getting this, for the free remote if nothing else. Nice one!

Exactly, same here. What seems like a rip-off at first, suddenly becomes a pretty good bargain if you think about it properly!

And with some mates it really is a good laugh...The Laser Hockey game alone had me wrapped up for a good while!

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

Sweet. A game and a remote is awsome, really awsome. I could use an extra one of those.


The former top user was Keven! You'd probably give birth to yourself 1000 times over until you sprout wings to fly away into the fading sun, that or you'd just turn into a lesbian. Who knows @_@ - L, 12/06/09

That's why I think this could be a MAJOR seller...people will be wanting to pick up another controller anyway, because there'll be plenty of other multi-player games available. So Nintendo has made a clever decision to make this package...

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

That's why I think this could be a MAJOR seller...people will be wanting to pick up another controller anyway, because there'll be plenty of other multi-player games available. So Nintendo has made a clever decision to make this package...

Hehe, yeah - quite a few people will probably get it alongside their Wiis :Smilie

Cubed3 Admin/Founder & Designer

Yup, launch day game, people wander around wondering what to get...think to themselves they'd love to play Wii Tennis with their mum (?) and spot this. Second Wii controller + free set of games (basically how it looks to me, not game plus free controller).

Nintendo = wiiner! Smilie

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

Finally i know what this game is. I was actually starting to wonder were some of those games had dissapeared to.

XBL Gamertag: James2t3

Precisely how I'm seeing it, Adam. Then I can just get a nunchuk attachment and I'm set with a second controller for about

Blade, trying to find screens was a pain as well, because most of these mini-games have only recently been unveiled. The only shots were of the shooting gallery and laser hockey shown at E3.

And Mike, that's the beauty of it - some are damn fun! I quite liked the pool game as well...think there's definitely room for someone like Codemasters to get a full version out on Wii.

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

As soon as I saw pool in it I knew I had to have it. I always get mad urges to play pool, even though I'm not that good at it...

Only getting this because of the free Wii remote...

Yer, im definetly going to pick this up. It looks really fun and uses the controller in really good ways.

The Mii charecters look to be quite a cunning little addition, not only to play as them, but for them to show up as additional charecters watching the games too.

Things I hope
a) More "background" Mii charecter stuff for entertainment while playing. (purhapes they could react to how well you are doing..or some of them take your side, some dont, when playing multiplayer).

b) A lot of options. These are simple games, so they need to be maxed out for long lasting appeal.

c) High score tables.

d) Alternative actual tables. (eg, for the pong game there could be layout variations).

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+

The Mii characters do indeed show different facial expressions depending on the action (if I recall correctly).

tiamat, you prove my point completely - people will think 'controller' or 'controller with free mini-games' and opt for the better value choice.

Darkflame, I love how you can put your own Mii characters in...so you could literally have your mates or celebrities watching you, all depending on how many Mii you can be bothered creating.

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

If My First Wee... My First Wii only cost about 10 GBP, then you got some funny little games for small money. That's a reason to pick it up methinks.

Oh, my. This above sounds like a spam mail with ...tool-enlargements, does it not?

I find your lack of faith disturbing!

I'd buy this for the controller and sell the game for a tenner.

It's going to be shit and you jolly well know it.

Yep definitely getting this i love multiplayer experiences, they were the GameCube's highlights and with the Wii remote it will only make it better.

It is a great marketing ploy to justify let's face it a hefty price for a controller but Nintendo always have cheap consoles and games but the prices of there controllers, memory cards are just a rip off.

Wii sports, Wii play, Monkey Ball, Wario Ware multiplayer madness.

keep up the great work Adam, loving the reviews.


Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the clich�. They were the statement and the definition."

Sorry previews, bring on Mario and Red Steel


Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the clich�. They were the statement and the definition."

Sounds like a must-buy to me... NEED! JOB! >.<

Still a proud member of the 'omfg amazing water in games' society

Well you see Megadanzero i thought ahead TESCO's all summer and have over a grand to spend on the Wii


Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the clich�. They were the statement and the definition."

i like it and want to have it

Bam-Bam

i like it and want to have it

Bam-Bam

You must really want it to state it twice


Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the clich�. They were the statement and the definition."

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